"We have a training period; we have certain guidelines and structure. You can't hire talented people and stifle them. That's not the way it works anymore"
About this Quote
There is a quiet threat baked into Todd English's management philosophy: if you treat talent like an appliance, it will walk. The line starts with reassurance - training, guidelines, structure - the comforting nouns of any brand that needs consistency across locations and service shifts. Then it pivots hard into a modern ultimatum: the old command-and-control kitchen, the one built on fear and absolute obedience, is no longer sustainable in a labor market where skilled people have options and reputations travel fast.
English is speaking from the celebrity-chef era, where a restaurant isn't just a room with plates; it's a content engine, a personal brand, a set of expectations fans bring in with them. That reality forces a paradox: you need rigid systems to replicate the "Todd English" experience, but you also need cooks, managers, and servers to improvise, problem-solve, and bring personality to the room. Stifling them doesn't merely bruise egos; it degrades the product. Hospitality depends on discretionary effort - the small, unbilled extra that can't be mandated.
The subtext is also reputational damage control. The industry has been reckoning with toxic kitchen hierarchies, burnout, and public scrutiny. "That's not the way it works anymore" isn't just about efficiency; it's about legitimacy. He's signaling an updated leadership posture: structure as scaffolding, not a cage. In a culture that now expects workplaces to be humane and creatively porous, talent management becomes part of the menu.
English is speaking from the celebrity-chef era, where a restaurant isn't just a room with plates; it's a content engine, a personal brand, a set of expectations fans bring in with them. That reality forces a paradox: you need rigid systems to replicate the "Todd English" experience, but you also need cooks, managers, and servers to improvise, problem-solve, and bring personality to the room. Stifling them doesn't merely bruise egos; it degrades the product. Hospitality depends on discretionary effort - the small, unbilled extra that can't be mandated.
The subtext is also reputational damage control. The industry has been reckoning with toxic kitchen hierarchies, burnout, and public scrutiny. "That's not the way it works anymore" isn't just about efficiency; it's about legitimacy. He's signaling an updated leadership posture: structure as scaffolding, not a cage. In a culture that now expects workplaces to be humane and creatively porous, talent management becomes part of the menu.
Quote Details
| Topic | Management |
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